Wondering how many times you can patch your roof before you need to reroof? Unfortunately, there is no magic answer to that question. In some cases, you may be able to put a dozen patches on the roof and still be fine not to put on a whole new roof. In other cases, even a single repair may be too much—you may just have to reroof.

The answer depends on several factors. If you answer yes to the following questions, you are probably fine to patch rather than reroof:

1. Will the Repair Extend the Life of the Roof?

If patching the roof will extend the life of the roof, you should patch rather than reroof. For example, if most of your roof is relatively new and only a relatively small area is damaged, putting on a patch will repair the damaged area so that it is at the same level as the rest of the roof. As a result, the patch will help the roof to last.

However, if the entire roof is in a state of disrepair and you get a leak in a  single area, adding a patch will not extend the life of the roof. Instead, it will just fix that single issue. You will have to deal with the rest of the derelict roof sooner or later.

2. Is the Repair Only on One Side?

If the repair is only on one side of the roof, it is typically safe to move forward with the repair instead of re-roofing. However, if both sides of the roof are badly damaged, it may make more sense to reroof.

If your roof is old, err toward reroofing. However, if your roof is relatively new, get a few quotes to see which is better.

In most cases, it costs more per square foot to patch than it does to reroof. This difference is simply due to the fact that it costs something just for the workers to show up, set up their scaffolding and manage the account. These costs are relatively static whether you get patches or a new roof.

3. Is the Patch Going over Bare Roof?

If you have answered yes to the above two questions and you are going to patch over bare roof, you should likely go forward with a patch rather than reroofing. However, if you already have two layers of shingles over the damaged area, you may want to consider peeling back the shingles and reroofing.

For example, if you had cracked roof tiles and you put new tiles over them to cover the damage, that is already two layers. Under most building codes, you cannot put more than two layers of shingles on a roof.

Most roofs simply are not strong enough to hold more layers than that. Thus, if you have been layering patches, you should probably peel everything back and put on a whole new roof, rather than risking more layers of patches and losing track of how many layers you have in various spots. For more information, contact K.G.D. Roofing Pty Ltd.

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